Pilot Jobs in Scandinavia 2026: SAS, Widerøe, Finnair, Icelandair and Norwegian

Our jobs board tracks 5 airlines based in the Nordic countries, Scandinavia’s Denmark, Norway and Sweden with Finland and Iceland: SAS, Widerøe, Finnair, Icelandair and Norwegian. At the last check 2 of them had the First Officer seat open and 1 the Captain seat, and the status of Finnair, Icelandair and Norwegian was unconfirmed. The published First Officer entries for pilots without a type rating are 400 hours at SAS, 500 hours at Icelandair and 1,500 hours at Norwegian, each counted its own way. Widerøe and Finnair ask for a Nordic language as well as English, SAS and Norwegian for English only, and Icelandair publishes no language rule for direct entry. None of the 5 says it sponsors a visa; SAS and Norwegian ask for a right to work you already hold, and the records of Widerøe, Finnair and Icelandair give no rule. This page lists each one with its bases, seats, license and minimum, then what the hours count, the languages, which authority must have issued your license, the cadet and school routes, and the traps in a Nordic vacancy: pools in place of start dates, seniority, bonds and security checks. How to get the license itself in Denmark is on the how to become an airline pilot in Denmark page.

The Nordic airlines (5)

Every airline on our board based in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland or Iceland, by its status at the last check: 1 recruiting for at least one seat. The license and right-to-work columns are each record’s own summary; the hours are the published minimums, in the airline’s own measure; the language column is what its published requirements ask beyond English.

Who is hiring, seat by seat

First Officer seat open at the last check: SAS and Widerøe. Captain seat open: SAS. Each airline as its record sums it up, with the date of the check:

• SAS F/O: Recruiting Capt: Recruiting
  SAS had five pilot vacancies open on 25 August 2026: Experienced First Officer at its Scandinavian bases, A320neo First Officer and Captain at London Heathrow, and Direct Entry Captain on the A320 in Copenhagen and on the E195 at all bases. The adverts point to courses in late 2026 and early 2027. The E195 Direct Entry Captain posting was still on SAS’s careers site on 12 October 2026. (checked 12 October 2026) — careers page
• Widerøe F/O: Talent pool Capt: Not offered
  Widerøe takes open applications into a candidate database for future openings rather than dated vacancies, and no dated pilot vacancy surfaced at the last check, on 31 October 2026. Its pilot page asks that you understand Norwegian and speak a Scandinavian language, names no license, medical or hours minimum, and says every new pilot starts as First Officer, with about 10 years to command. (checked 31 October 2026) — careers page
• Finnair F/O: Unconfirmed Capt: Not offered
  We found no open Finnair vacancy for licensed pilots on 27 October 2026, in English or Finnish searches. Finnair’s MPL program, its route for students, took 2026 applications from 17 April to 3 May 2026 on its MPL page, and from 3 to 28 August 2026 in a joint application with the Finnish Aviation Academy, and its pilots page said the application period had closed (all as search results showed them). Check Finnair’s pilots page before you apply. (checked 27 October 2026) — careers page
• Icelandair F/O: Unconfirmed Capt: Unconfirmed
  At the last check, on 30 October 2026, we found no open pilot vacancy at Icelandair: its jobs board, as search results showed it, listed no pilot role, and we found no pilot advertisement newer than December 2025. That round asked for pilots with at least 500 hours on jets, with a deadline of 29 December (Flugvarpið, 15 December 2025), and nearly 30 new pilots were being hired in early 2026, about 10 of them through its cadet route (Morgunblaðið, 28 January 2026); 31 new pilots finished Icelandair’s training course in July 2026 (Morgunblaðið, 24 July 2026). (checked 30 October 2026) — careers page
• Norwegian F/O: Unconfirmed Capt: Not recruiting
  Norwegian’s two First Officer vacancies, one for 737-rated and one for non-type-rated pilots, closed on 31 August 2026, and no newer pilot vacancy had appeared by 30 October 2026. There was no Captain or cadet vacancy. (checked 30 October 2026) — careers page

For Captains: SAS advertised Direct Entry Captains on the A320 in Copenhagen, from 4,000 hours in total, 2,000 on jets or fast turboprops and 1,000 in command of aircraft above 55 tonnes, and on the E195 at all its bases, rated or not, from 3,000 to 4,000 hours on one of three combinations, with a fully funded rating and a three-year bond (checked 12 October 2026); Widerøe takes no Captains from outside: every new pilot starts as First Officer, and command takes about 10 years (checked 31 October 2026); Finnair publishes no direct entry Captain route (checked 27 October 2026); Norwegian had no Captain vacancy on 25 August 2026, and whether it takes Captains from outside at other times is among the points we could not confirm (checked 30 October 2026); whether Icelandair recruits Captains from outside is among the points we could not confirm (checked 30 October 2026). Every airline that takes Captains from outside is on the direct entry Captain jobs page.

Airlines from elsewhere with Nordic bases (3)

Airlines based outside the Nordic countries whose records name a Nordic base. Their seat status is for their whole network, not for the Nordic base:

TUI’s Swedish airline, TUIfly Nordic, posted rated 737 First Officer vacancies for Stockholm Arlanda or Gothenburg (12 positions, published 7 May 2026) and non-rated ones (6 positions, published 12 May 2026), both closing on 31 July 2026, as an archived copy of a Swedish job board’s listing showed them, and TUI wants the license issued for the country of the airline you join, so a Swedish-issued EASA license, converted if another EU state issued it (checked 18 October 2026); Eurowings’ career portal still listed, in search results, A320-family First Officer vacancies, among them a fast-track upgrade role in Stockholm (checked 30 October 2026). Other Nordic operators are not on our board: the Denmark page names two Danish ones, Jettime and Sunclass Airlines, in its step 4.

What the hours count

Each airline’s lowest published First Officer entry for a pilot without a type rating, in the airline’s own measure of hours:

1. 400 hours at SAS, counted on aircraft certified to CS-25 or FAR-25, the large transport category, not in total, for its Experienced First Officers at the Scandinavian bases on the A320 and the E195 (checked 12 October 2026)
2. 500 hours at Icelandair, on jets, in its December 2025 round (checked 30 October 2026)
3. 1,500 hours at Norwegian, in total for a pilot without a 737 rating, 800 for a military pilot, with 500 of them on multi-crew and multi-engine aircraft; a 737-rated pilot needs 500 hours on the 737 and no published total (checked 30 October 2026)

Widerøe publishes no hours figure: its pilot page looks for progression, especially in low-hour pilots, and suggests instructing to build hours (checked 31 October 2026); Finnair names a commercial pilot license and then trains you itself, a First Officer course and simulator training before the type rating, about two to three months, and whether it also asks for an ATPL or a number of hours is among the points we could not confirm (checked 27 October 2026).

Read the qualifier, not the number. The same figure means different logbooks: hours on certified transport aircraft, on jets, or on multi-crew and multi-engine aircraft, so a new commercial license with 200 hours in light aircraft meets none of the figures above. The doors at 500 hours or less, here and beyond, are on the low-hour pilot jobs page, and every published minimum on the hours requirements page.

Languages: English, and sometimes more

Everywhere in the EASA system a pilot who uses the radio needs a language endorsement at ICAO Level 4 or above, in English or the language used on the radio, and an instrument rating needs proven English as well (FCL.055, step 3 of the Europe page), but the airlines decide what else they ask: Widerøe asks that you understand Norwegian and speak a Scandinavian language (checked 31 October 2026); Widerøe’s permanent pilot posting on Jobbnorge asks for a Scandinavian language at Berlitz level 4 to 5, a level we could not confirm as that of the pilot page’s open application (checked 31 October 2026); Finnair asks every pilot for fluent Finnish and English (checked 27 October 2026); SAS asks for ICAO English at Level 5 or 6 and names no other language (checked 12 October 2026); Norwegian asks for English at Level 5 or higher and names no other language (checked 30 October 2026); Icelandair publishes no language rule for direct entry in what we could read, though its 2023–24 cadet intake asked for good English and found Icelandic desirable (checked 30 October 2026). So Widerøe and Finnair are open only to pilots who speak their languages, whatever their hours. A vacancy written in English does not mean the airline works only in English: read its language line, and ask before you apply if it says nothing.

Which authority issued your license

A license issued by any EASA state is valid in all of them, Norway and Iceland included (step 6 of the Europe page), yet some Nordic airlines want it held by their own authorities: SAS accepts an EASA license issued outside Scandinavia, but it must be converted before your course starts, and SAS publishes no preference for licenses issued by Denmark, Sweden or Norway (checked 12 October 2026); Norwegian prefers a license issued by Denmark, Sweden or Norway and accepts another EASA license only if it is converted to a Danish, Swedish or Norwegian one within 12 months of signing your contract (checked 30 October 2026); Icelandair’s December 2025 round took a commercial license issued by Samgöngustofa, the Icelandic Transport Authority, or by a comparable authority of another EASA state (checked 30 October 2026); Widerøe’s pilot page lists no license, but its own permanent pilot posting on Jobbnorge, with no closing date, asks for an EASA license issued in a Scandinavian country, with a Class 1 medical, a multi-engine instrument rating, passed ATPL theory, MCC, PBN and UPRT or an earlier type rating; whether the pilot page’s open application leads to that posting, and so whether these are the terms you apply under, is among the points we could not confirm (checked 31 October 2026). Moving a license between EASA authorities is an application to the new authority, which also needs your medical records moved: the Denmark page sets out Trafikstyrelsen’s application, and a license from outside the EASA system is converted first. FAA vs EASA covers the FAA conversion.

Cadet and school routes

The cadet, academy and partner-school routes the records name, worded as recorded:

• Finnair Intake: Closed at last check
  MPL program: about 22 months with Center Air Pilot Academy (Roskilde, Denmark) and Finnair’s A320 simulator in Vantaa, to an MPL and an A320 type rating; students pay EUR 60,000; both 2026 application windows (17 April–3 May, and 3–28 August jointly with the Finnish Aviation Academy) had closed (Finnair’s pages and the academy’s notice, as search results showed them) (checked 27 October 2026)
• Icelandair Intake: Closed at last check
  Cadet route, Flugmenn til framtíðar (pilots for the future) — run with Pilot Flight Academy in Norway for its fall 2023 intake; graduates are given special consideration when Icelandair recruits, and about 10 of the nearly 30 pilots hired in early 2026 had been taken on before their flight training (Morgunblaðið); the last intake we found closed on 28 September 2023 (checked 30 October 2026)
• SAS Intake: Closed at last check
  Cadet / ab-initio - Cadet First Officer exists as a route but the posting currently shows 'this position has been filled'; not open when checked (checked 12 October 2026)
• Widerøe Intake: Not stated
  Partner schools: Widerøe may select pilots during their training at OSM Aviation Academy and at Pilot Flight Academy, with a view to employment after graduation (the schools’ announcements of March 2025, in aviation press; not on Widerøe’s pilot page) (checked 31 October 2026)

Finnair gives its MPL graduates priority for five years when it recruits A320-family pilots, and puts the program at 40 to 60 pilots a year, as search results showed its pages (checked 27 October 2026); Norwegian runs no cadet program of its own; under an agreement of December 2024 it gets to know students at four independent schools, OSM Aviation Academy, Center Air Pilot Academy, TFHS Lund and FTEJerez, and may offer jobs to graduates, with no place, sponsorship or job promised and the training bought from the school, and whether the arrangement still runs in 2026 is among the points we could not confirm (checked 30 October 2026). A school that names an airline as a partner is not a cadetship: ask who selects you, who pays and what is promised. The cadet programs page compares who pays on each scheme.

How to read a Nordic pilot vacancy

• The right to work is yours to bring. None of the 5 airlines here says it sponsors a visa, and SAS and Norwegian ask for a right to work you must already hold. SAS asks for an unrestricted right to live and work in the EU at its Scandinavian bases, and in the UK at Heathrow, and offers no visa sponsorship in its ads (checked 12 October 2026); Norwegian for the legal right to live and work in the EU/EEC region and an unrestricted passport (checked 30 October 2026); whether Finnair asks for a nationality or an EU/EEA right to work is among the points we could not confirm (checked 27 October 2026); Icelandair’s right-to-work rule for direct entry is among the points we could not confirm (checked 30 October 2026); whether Widerøe can hire a pilot without the right to work in Norway is among the points we could not confirm (checked 31 October 2026). The airlines that do sponsor are on the visa sponsorship page.
• An offer is not a start date. SAS may place approved First Officer candidates in a holding pool, with start dates set by its needs and training capacity (checked 12 October 2026); Norwegian may place successful candidates in a holding pool too (checked 30 October 2026); Widerøe takes open applications into a candidate database, assigning your base and aircraft type by its needs (checked 31 October 2026); Icelandair warned in its December 2025 round that the first years would not be year-round jobs, its operations being seasonal (checked 30 October 2026). Ask when the course you would join starts, and where.
• The type rating and the bond. All 5 publish a First Officer entry that needs no type rating to apply: SAS pays its First Officers’ type rating, while its Direct Entry Captains get a fully funded rating with a three-year bond, and whether the First Officer rating is bonded is among the points we could not confirm (checked 12 October 2026); who funds Norwegian’s 737 rating for a non-rated pilot, and any bond, are among the points we could not confirm (checked 30 October 2026); whether Finnair’s licensed pilots pay for, or are bonded for, its further training and type rating is among the points we could not confirm (checked 27 October 2026); who pays for Icelandair’s type rating, and any bond, are among the points we could not confirm (checked 30 October 2026). Ask who pays for the rating and what you owe if you leave before you sign. The airlines that train you on type worldwide are on the non-type-rated First Officer jobs page.
• Security and medical checks. SAS runs background screening, a security interview and drug and alcohol tests in the city where you will be based (checked 12 October 2026); Norwegian asks for no criminal record and a five-year security check you can pass (checked 30 October 2026); Finnair for a police security clearance, a height of at least 163 cm and flawless color vision (checked 27 October 2026). A conviction, or an airline’s own medical standard above the Class 1, can stop an application that meets every flying requirement.
• Where you start, and how fast you move. At Widerøe every new pilot starts as First Officer, and command takes about 10 years (checked 31 October 2026); SAS flies under three operating certificates, SAS Link, SAS Connect and SAS SK, which is why its terms and bases differ from one ad to the next (checked 12 October 2026). Read which company the contract is with, and at which base.

The other airlines of the region, from Ireland to Turkey, are on the European jobs page.

For the selection, the interview guides for SAS and Norwegian, the complete interview guide, and the Library’s airline pilot recruitment and selection, pilot aptitude tests and airline simulator assessment articles.

Common questions

Which Scandinavian airlines are hiring pilots? At the last check the First Officer seat was open at SAS and Widerøe and the Captain seat at SAS; the status of Finnair, Icelandair and Norwegian was unconfirmed. The tables on this page give the date each airline was checked. Confirm the vacancy on the airline’s own careers site before applying.

Do I need to speak a Scandinavian language to fly for a Nordic airline? Widerøe asks that you understand Norwegian and speak a Scandinavian language; Widerøe’s permanent pilot posting on Jobbnorge asks for a Scandinavian language at Berlitz level 4 to 5, a level we could not confirm as that of the pilot page’s open application; Finnair asks every pilot for fluent Finnish and English; SAS asks for ICAO English at Level 5 or 6 and names no other language; Norwegian asks for English at Level 5 or higher and names no other language; Icelandair publishes no language rule for direct entry in what we could read, though its 2023–24 cadet intake asked for good English and found Icelandic desirable. The license itself needs a language endorsement at ICAO Level 4 or above, and an instrument rating proven English (FCL.055).

How many hours do I need for SAS, Norwegian or the other Nordic airlines? Each airline’s published minimums, in its own measure: SAS: 400 h CS/FAR-25 (FO) · 3,000 h (Capt) (checked 12 October 2026); Widerøe: Not published (checked 31 October 2026); Finnair: Not published (checked 27 October 2026); Icelandair: 500 h on jets (Dec 2025 round) (checked 30 October 2026); Norwegian: 500 h on B737 if rated · 1,500 h if not (checked 30 October 2026). Several count only hours on certified transport aircraft, on jets or on multi-crew aircraft, so read the posting’s categories before you total your logbook.

Do Nordic airlines sponsor visas for pilots? Not on our board: none of the 5 airlines here says it does; SAS asks for an unrestricted right to live and work in the EU at its Scandinavian bases, and in the UK at Heathrow, and offers no visa sponsorship in its ads; Norwegian for the legal right to live and work in the EU/EEC region and an unrestricted passport; whether Finnair asks for a nationality or an EU/EEA right to work is among the points we could not confirm; Icelandair’s right-to-work rule for direct entry is among the points we could not confirm; whether Widerøe can hire a pilot without the right to work in Norway is among the points we could not confirm.

Can I fly for a Nordic airline with a license from another EASA country? SAS accepts an EASA license issued outside Scandinavia, but it must be converted before your course starts, and SAS publishes no preference for licenses issued by Denmark, Sweden or Norway; Norwegian prefers a license issued by Denmark, Sweden or Norway and accepts another EASA license only if it is converted to a Danish, Swedish or Norwegian one within 12 months of signing your contract; Icelandair’s December 2025 round took a commercial license issued by Samgöngustofa, the Icelandic Transport Authority, or by a comparable authority of another EASA state; Widerøe’s pilot page lists no license, but its own permanent pilot posting on Jobbnorge, with no closing date, asks for an EASA license issued in a Scandinavian country, with a Class 1 medical, a multi-engine instrument rating, passed ATPL theory, MCC, PBN and UPRT or an earlier type rating; whether the pilot page’s open application leads to that posting, and so whether these are the terms you apply under, is among the points we could not confirm. An EASA license is valid in every EASA state, but an airline may still want it moved to its own authority.